Stata-bytwoway

bytwoway is a convenience command to plot graphs by groups. The script following bytwoway is executed for each group. Colors and patterns can vary accross groups with the aesthetics option.

sysuse nlsw88.dta, clear
collapse (mean) wage, by(grade race)
bytwoway (line wage grade), by(race) aes(color lpattern)

bytwoway (scatter wage grade, connect(l)), by(race) aes(color msymbol)

bytwoway line wage grade, by(smsa race) aes(color) palette(GnBu)

To specify the list of values for an aesthetic, append the aesthetic name with an s

bytwoway line wage grade, by(race) aes(color) colors("248 118 109" "0 186 56"  "97 156 255")

To change color defaults, you can also use the option palette if the package colorscheme is installed.

Define groups on the fly with multiple variables

sysuse nlsw88.dta, clear
collapse (mean) wage, by(grade smsa race)
bytwoway line wage grade, by(smsa race)

Script

bytwoway returns the macro r(cmd) that generates the final graph:

macros:
   	r(cmd) : twoway (line wage grade in 1/16, mcolor(`"navy"') lcolor(`"navy"') ///
			lpattern(`"solid"') msymbol(`"circle"') legend(label(1 white))) (line wage grade in ///
			17/32, mcolor(`"maroon"') lcolor(`"maroon"') lpattern(`"solid"') msymbol(`"circle"') /// 
			legend(label(2 black))) (line wage grade in 33/43, mcolor(`"forest_green"') ///
			lcolor(`"forest_green"') lpattern(`"solid"') msymbol(`"circle"') ///
			legend(label(3 other))),  legend(subtitle(`"race"'))  

Installation

net install bytwoway, from(https://github.com/matthieugomez/stata-bytwoway/raw/master)

If you have a version of Stata < 13, you need to install it manually

1. Click the "Download ZIP" button in the right column to download a zipfile.

2. Extract it into a folder (e.g. ~/SOMEFOLDER)

3. Run

   cap ado uninstall bytwoway
   net install bytwoway, from("~/SOMEFOLDER")